Ghetto heater

[TheLondonBroiler]

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY PERSONAL INJURY/DEATH OR PROPERTY DAMAGE THAT YOU CAUSE. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY.

THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT THAT I'VE DECIDED TO SHARE ON THE FORUM.

As much as it might seem like it, I don't enjoy starting a thread with such a warning, but I feel it's necessary.

As some of you know, our heater isn't very efficient. On start up, it will often draw 7kw and never draw less than 1.5-2kw during normal operation. Due to my daily commute being 62 miles with 42 miles being on the interstate, I need to conserve as much energy as possible.

The following are style interesting alternatives I saw on YouTube:

Diesel Air Heater
https://youtu.be/7NBMq5o_UJU

Ethanol Liquid Heater
https://youtu.be/3RHiDYGPZlY

I got to thinking, could I use a low consumption electric heater to, as is often said in the South, just "knock the chill off?"

I had a 150/250 watt Honeywell heater and 225 watt dc to ac converter laying around, so I figured what the hell. Yes, it's inefficient to covert from DC to AC, but I figure the "lost energy" is ending up as heat, so maybe it doesn't matter. It appears on the 150 watt setting, the setup draws 200 watts from the vehicle, according to readings from Torque Pro.

I am one day into this experiment, but I think it will work for my needs. It was only ~39°F on my home tonight, so further testing in colder temperatures is necessary to ultimately determine usefulness.

I mounted the heater onto a frisbee (the thread title said ghetto heater did it not?), to prevent tip over. The inverter is currently just sitting on the floor as well, next to the running board. I'm grabbing power from a one of a pair of ~6 gauge wires that are behind and above the obd port.

Having the heater between my calfs and blowing upwards (150 watts doesn't provide a lot of heat), and keeping my hands at the bottom of the steering wheel (without gloves), proved to be comfortable at 40°F. We are anticipating colder weather with nasty precipitation the next few days, so I should have more to report on soon.

 

[NORTON]

Cold weather gear for motorcyclists? 12V powered Heated gloves, vest, and there are small blankets..

The inverter is not really a 'loss'. Its waste heat is also down there between your legs!!
"Can you barely see the road from the heat coming off of it...?" :lol:

Do you use duct tape to keep everything in place, between your legs?,, keeping with the thread theme!

 

[JPL]

between your legs!!
"Can you barely see the road from the heat coming off of it..." :lol:

Panama!


What is the model number of the heater?

 

[NORTON]

But this is still turning electrons into heat.
Plus it's making the DC to DC converter work harder and that is waste heat because it's not in the cabin.

One of the down sides about the heating system on the Spark EV is the water heater for the cabin is located under the hood.
I often thought of wrapping the coolant hoses with the split foam tubes made for this job. And maybe an insulation covering for the heater itself.
But I have not acted on it, again, this winter....

My Big Idea to help make the heat more efficient is to turn the car into a 2 seat cabin!
I want to use 'Patio Door' clear winterizing kits from the hardware store and create a wall just behind the front seats.
I'd use the double sided tape around the headliner and door frame and leave it loose at the floor for air flow and so the panel does not pop when doors are slammed.
But, alas, I have not acted on it, again, this winter.....

 

[SparkE]

My Big Idea to help make the heat more efficient is to turn the car into a 2 seat cabin!
I want to use 'Patio Door' clear winterizing kits from the hardware store and create a wall just behind the front seats.
I'd use the double sided tape around the headliner and door frame and leave it loose at the floor for air flow and so the panel does not pop when doors are slammed.
But, alas, I have not acted on it, again, this winter.....

I have a faint recollection that somebody did this, and described it on this forum. It had a fairly "rigid" skeleton??? Anyhow, a search might turn up a post or 3 about it.

 

[charles]

Why not place something inflatable in the back seat and/or cargo area (if the idea is to reduce the amount of cubic feet of space to heat)?

Heat will eventually transfer to the inside of the inflatable, depends on how well insulated the inflatable is, but for shorter trips it may at least be somewhat effective.

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

What is the model number of the heater?

It's a Honeywell HCE100B

Why not place something inflatable in the back seat and/or cargo area (if the idea is to reduce the amount of cubic feet of space to heat)?

+1

This is working out nicely for me, but still hasn't been really cold. It'll be 33°F when I get out of work tonight (still not really cold).

 

[NORTON]

Why not place something inflatable in the back seat and/or cargo area (if the idea is to reduce the amount of cubic feet of space to heat)?

A clear wall behind the front seats keeps all the heat where it's needed. And visibility remains the same.
Plus I still have all the cargo area for parkas, backpacks, and the L1 (which I use daily at work this time of year).
So I need the space. I have a the back seats down and carpet covering the whole area. Rarely do I put the seats up for guests.

And how about those pictures above !!!! Panama !

Nobody loves a critic,,, but that looks unsafe. I would hate to have - - All that junk hanging out - - 'down there' 'between my legs'..... :lol:

Seriously: Heated gloves and a heated blanky, heated motorcycle vest, all 12V powered, all available in a few days from amazon.

Man I have to get after my winterization mods to my Spark EV,, or I'm all talk. Chit, it's the dead of winter.... What am I waiting for??? I'll try to post pics.
(What is the method of posting these big pics? I used Photobucket in the past but it's a pay site now..a)

 

[TheLondonBroiler]

Nobody loves a critic,,,

Constructive criticism is often essential for improvement. I appreciate the sentiment.

but that looks unsafe. I

Agreed.Exactly why I started the thread with a disclaimer. This is definitely not a tutorial, it should be clear that it is an experiment I'm sharing. As far as I can tell, the risks are as follows:
-In the event of a crash, the heater and inverter, as TEMPORARILY positioned, are projectiles.
-Both heater and inverter (while I find highly unlikely), could somehow block the travel of the brake pedal or accelerator.
-I have the connections SUPER temporary, as in, the 12v wire is "tucked" into a power supply harness and the ground ring terminal, is pressed in between the obd 2 connector and it's metal holding fixture. A poor connection can lead to extreme heat, which can lead to fire.

SHOULD I determine the heating is useful (it's looking that way), I can move forward with permanent design. This is likely to include sourcing a dc heater that is rated for continuous use and creating an unobtrusive mount(s) for said heater(s).

Seriously: Heated gloves and a heated blanky, heated motorcycle vest, all 12V powered, all available in a few days from Amazon.

These are great options for keeping you warm, but don't really warm the air (not that a 150 watt heater is super substantial, but as mentioned it reduces power consumption from using the onboard heater, by at least a factor 10!)

(What is the method of posting these big pics? I used Photobucket in the past but it's a pay site now..a)

I use IMGUR. You've mentioned in the past that you use a desktop/laptop, so it's not a great solution for you. That being said, you'll likely use a phone to take the pictures, and you can simply copy (looking at your phone, but typing into your PC) the url from imgur after you've uploaded the pics (remember to select it as a private album, otherwise you will make people mad (they go on imgur to look at cat pics, not pics of your spark (ask me how I know))).

I'm glad this thread has created a spirited discussion

(edited to clean up unneeded thread quotation code and make bold text)